For some parents the costs of childcare can be a barrier to accessing high quality care for their children. There is some financial help available and we are here to help with any queries you may have. We asked our friends at Family Nest to share some of the work they had done in highlighting the variations in the costs of childcare across the country and how Shropshire compares to other counties.

Over the past few weeks there has lots in the press about the variations in the cost of living across the UK. Be it salaries, house prices, rents, travel expenses etc, the incomes and outgoings of families varies considerably depending where you live. And this has been further highlighted in a report published by children’s saving provider, Family Investments, detailing the cost of childcare across the country.

The report surveyed 124 local authorities and official earnings data to determine a league table of affordability for every county and town. On average it found that families pay almost a fifth (18.9%) of their earnings on childcare each week, highlighting the extent of childcare costs for working families.

The national picture

Parents who pay for 25 hours of childcare each week can expect to pay £4,993 annually to cover childcare bills in Great Britain today

These costs are equivalent to 18.9% of average annual earnings

This average annual earnings figure takes into account disparities between part time and full time wages as well as gender differences

Based on average earnings, a parent would need to work 391 hours each year to meet the average cost of childcare in Britain

The most affordable locations

Stoke in the West Midlands is the most affordable urban area in Britain for parents to meet childcare costs – costs are equivalent to 13.8% of average annual earnings in the area

The West Midlands has four of the top ten most affordable locations in the country located in the region (Stoke, Shropshire, Solihull and Dudley). The North West also features prominently with three of the top ten most affordable locations

The least affordable locations

Ebbw Vale in Gwent, South Wales, was found to be the least affordable location on our measure of care costs relative to average earnings. A parent would need to spend 28.2% of their average income on meeting costs.

A wide variety of locations feature amongst the least affordable areas. All of the locations have one things in common, a lack of correlation between local earnings and childcare costs.

Click the image below to view the full report and to use the Childcare Affordability Tool

For information about available childcare and the financial help available for families contact the Shropshire Family Information Service on 01743 254400